1. Field
The present disclosure relates to electrolytes for lithium air batteries and lithium air batteries including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithium air battery generally includes an anode, a cathode using air oxygen as a cathode active material and including a catalyst for oxidation/reduction of oxygen, and a lithium ion conductive electrolyte disposed between the cathode and the anode.
Lithium air batteries have a theoretical energy density approximately 10 times greater than the density of lithium ion batteries. In addition, the lithium air batteries are environmentally friendly and have higher safety than lithium ion batteries. Thus, the development of lithium air batteries has been actively pursued. Lithium air batteries may use non-aqueous electrolytes or aqueous electrolytes as a lithium ion conductive medium.
During battery discharging, lithium derived from an anode comes in contact with oxygen introduced from a cathode, thus, forming lithium oxide (Li2O2). However, lithium oxide, which is an insulator, is unstable and may react with an electrolyte. In addition, when the lithium air battery is charged at a high voltage and in an oxygen gas atmosphere, the electrolyte becomes substantially decomposed, thereby deteriorating the battery performance. Therefore, there is a need to develop a method for addressing these stability problems.